Acupuncture News
News Archive
8-6-02
By Alison McCook
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Many headache sufferers are finding relief in therapies ranging from acupuncture to meditation despite a dearth of scientific evidence that these remedies are effective, researchers report.
Their findings underscore the need for physicians to become better educated about the potential risks and benefits associated with complementary and alternative medicine, and to start probing patients about their use. A number of studies have found that most patients using complementary therapies don't tell their doctors about it, note researchers in a recent issue of Cephalalgia.
But interviews with 73 adults attending a pain clinic in New York City revealed that 85% used alternative medical therapies to relieve their pain and 60% of these patients believed the therapies had worked. According to the study, headache is one of the most common complaints among patients visiting general practitioners.
Nearly all patients were familiar with at least one of the 49 treatments listed in the questionnaire and 88% believed at least one of the treatments to be an effective remedy for headache symptoms.
Alternative therapies included those not taught widely at US medical schools or generally available at US hospitals. The most popular therapies among patients in the study included massage, exercise, acupuncture, biofeedback, chiropractic, herbs and nutritional supplements.
"Openness to potentially beneficial treatments should be an important aim in the physician-patient relationship and inquiries about the use of CAM [complementary-alternative medicine] should be part of the routine medical history," conclude Dr. Casilda Balmaceda of Columbia University-New York Presbyterian Hospital in New York and colleagues.
Among those who had not tried alternative therapies, cost, lack of a referral, lack of time and lack of insurance coverage--not lack of medical data--were among the reasons cited.
The study also found that 79% of patients took medication for their headaches. More than one third had sleep problems and nearly one quarter were unable to work as a result of their pain.
"Exposure to and interest in alternative treatments are common among patients with headache syndromes, despite the lack of scientific evidence of benefit and assessments of risks for many of the treatments," the researchers conclude.
They call for more research into the effectiveness of varies type of alternative therapies.
SOURCE: Cephalalgia 2002;22:395-400.
